Food Notes for December 1, 2025

Openings

• Another Middle Eastern cafe has opened in the Edmonton area, this time in St. Albert, called Ahlan Coffeehouse at #115, Bellerose Drive.
• Hatch’d, an “egg-centric” restaurant, is now open at 8315 112 Street NW.
• Tee Pee Treats is coming downtown to 10219 106 Street NW (formerly Rolling Tales), in the form of Kakio Studio Cafe.
• Nero Cafe, offering coffee, juice, and sweets, opened in October at 9947 82 Avenue NW.
• Chain Nagaiki Ramen is now open at West Edmonton Mall.
• Chain Poulet Rouge has opened a second Edmonton location in Kingsway Mall.
• Chain restaurant Karahi Boys, serving Pakistani cuisine, is opening a location soon in Edmonton.

Local News

• Chinatown Chow Down is back for a second season, with their culinary passport, food crawls, and group lunches and dinners. I’ve picked up my passport and already have my first sticker!
• Ramneek Singh has completed his butter chicken odyssey, and has ranked the 50 restaurants where he tried their butter chicken. Ranked number one is Kashmiri Delight.
• Similar to CoffeePass, but for food items, Food Bike Tour has launched a Dining Pass. For $89, the pass gives holders six months to enjoy a food item at 20 participating Edmonton restaurants. The pass is only valid for dine-in only.
• Edify checked out Super Smash Burger, which opened in August.
• Congratulations to XIX Nineteen on 13 years at their Edmonton location and a decade at their St. Albert branch.
• Happy first birthday to Frank’s Pub.
• CBC Radioactive interviewed Emad Afkham of Clio’s Chocolates.
• Story Darling Studios featured Jacqueline Jacek and a walk through the Jacek boutique and
  facility.
• Teresa Spinelli has purchased The Piazza property in Little Italy outright from the real estate co-operative she helped create.
• Mitsoh, an Edmonton-based Indigenous-owned food company, announced a multi-million-dollar investment for upscaling their premium meat snacks.

What I Ate

• • I had a work lunch at the always reliable Coliseum Steak and Pizza last week (the kitchen managed to deliver food to two very large parties in half an hour). It was my first time trying their top sirloin, which was prepared very well, but it probably won’t unseat my favourites at the restaurant.

Top sirloin from Coliseum Steak and Pizza

• • It was a privilege to volunteer for Chúng Ta Cùng Nhau’s Where We Came From event. I was able to help out with the food, and enjoyed some great eats myself, including tastes from Mai Mai and Kim Fat Market.

Traditional Vietnamese meal from Mai Mai and Kim Fat

• • I had lunch at Chinatown’s Nam Siam for the first time, and was really impressed with their grilled pork sausage tray for salad rolls we assembled at the table. So fresh and tasty. I will definitely be back.

Nem Nuong tray from Nam Siam